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Post by Deviancy on Jul 13, 2021 2:41:21 GMT
Once upon a time when a boy hit puberty, the toys went in the trash or in the cellar or basement, and all he cared about was girls, and cars and that was about it. But something started happening in the early 80's, based on my experience. I was at Best, which was like the predecessor to Walmart in a way, and I was a child and my grandmother was helping me look for a specific He-Man figure when some 19 year old guy came up to us and said He-Man was a cool and how he needed Orko to complete his collection. I was like, "whoah, you're a bit old to be playing with toys", I didn't say that, I thought it. But then I didn't come across that again until the early 90's when McFarlane got into the toy biz and started making figures of Eric Draven, Norman Bates, Freddy, Ozzy, etc, and so on, I wasn't really buying toys anymore at that point in my life but I couldn't say no, here were figures of characters I totally liked and weren't suitable for kids, and I wasn't the only adult, every Tuesday tons of adult men were at Toys R Us waiting for the new shipment of McFarlane stuff.
Time went on and it just bigger and bigger until these days, most kids just want apps and video games, which hurt Toys R' Us pretty bad, but adults were the ones buying up all the figures, so Neca, Mezco, McFarlane, they continue to thrive and they sell the figures for 40-300 a pop and they're doing very well. So what happened? Some say gen x started the Peter Pan syndrome, which is what I referred to it as back in the late 90's, but I can't for the life of me figure how it happened. Video games played a role, I mean the game audience demographic got wider and wider age wise, but then there's nostalgia as well, and I think there were more "closet collectors" in the past but it wasn't hip to be a geek back in the old days, now its kind of hip. Most of the studios profit the most from comic book films, most of the ticket buyers are adults...
In short, I think many things factor into it but dammit, I started this post too late so I can't dig deep into it.
So I'm curious, any other collectors out there? And if so, what drives you to be a collector?
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Post by wolf on Jul 13, 2021 4:20:35 GMT
Once upon a time when a boy hit puberty, the toys went in the trash or in the cellar or basement, and all he cared about was girls, and cars and that was about it. But something started happening in the early 80's, based on my experience. I was at Best, which was like the predecessor to Walmart in a way, and I was a child and my grandmother was helping me look for a specific He-Man figure when some 19 year old guy came up to us and said He-Man was a cool and how he needed Orko to complete his collection. I was like, "whoah, you're a bit old to be playing with toys", I didn't say that, I thought it. But then I didn't come across that again until the early 90's when McFarlane got into the toy biz and started making figures of Eric Draven, Norman Bates, Freddy, Ozzy, etc, and so on, I wasn't really buying toys anymore at that point in my life but I couldn't say no, here were figures of characters I totally liked and weren't suitable for kids, and I wasn't the only adult, every Tuesday tons of adult men were at Toys R Us waiting for the new shipment of McFarlane stuff. Time went on and it just bigger and bigger until these days, most kids just want apps and video games, which hurt Toys R' Us pretty bad, but adults were the ones buying up all the figures, so Neca, Mezco, McFarlane, they continue to thrive and they sell the figures for 40-300 a pop and they're doing very well. So what happened? Some say gen x started the Peter Pan syndrome, which is what I referred to it as back in the late 90's, but I can't for the life of me figure how it happened. Video games played a role, I mean the game audience demographic got wider and wider age wise, but then there's nostalgia as well, and I think there were more "closet collectors" in the past but it wasn't hip to be a geek back in the old days, now its kind of hip. Most of the studios profit the most from comic book films, most of the ticket buyers are adults... In short, I think many things factor into it but dammit, I started this post too late so I can't dig deep into it. So I'm curious, any other collectors out there? And if so, what drives you to be a collector?
More interesting stuff.🙂
....it used to be that kids had these great action figures and toys....the 70's.....growing up....
..."Planet of the Apes" posable action figures (I remember how delicate, and well formed Zira's wrists and hands were)...the ORIGINAL badazz "G.I. Joes"! (lol, "Evel Kinevel" was pretty sucky, but DURABLE!😂😉 and the HORSES from the "Johnny West" collection were flaming Awwwrrrrrresome!)....all the kids loved them, immediately opened them up....and played with them till their garb was threadbare (some of us made new clothes for them too) and they broke apart in pieces so badly, we had to beg for new ones, and we were told to be good all year long and maybe we could get more at X-Mas.
As young kids we really did appreciate the 'art' of what went into making these great toys.
But we didn't TRULY APPRECIATE it until we got older and understood it all...by then they were gone, and we wished we had taken better care of them. Hind sight is 20/20. I applaud adults who enjoy, appreciate and collect/preserve these things....especially when they don't do it ONLY for investment purposes. Though I see absolutely nothing wrong with the investment and trade aspects of this type of collecting. 🙂
When I was in my early 20's...often I would buy at least 2 issues of certain comic books that came out. One to put up in plastic and keep in mint condition....and at least one other to read and read and read over and over again....just like all those issues that I bought for 35 cents, off of news stand kiosks in the malls, mag racks at 7-11's (and numerous other, "Stop-N- Robs".) and all the tall spinning comic book racks in various grocery stores.🙂
When my kid came along....I tried to buy at least 2 of all the Batman, Joker, Catwoman, Wolverine, Spiderman, Ghostrider....lol, the list goes on....One to put up and keep pristine in package....and the other to play out all kinds of new imaginative adventures.
Lol...but those 2nd buys, always found their way out of their safe plastic bubble fortresses.
You have NO IDEA how many times I have wired Ghostrider's leg back onto his little body with thermostat wire and very fine cabinet finishing screws.😂
Lol, and the same thing with Wolverine's head! His healing factor didn't even have time to kick in before he was played with to death AGAIN.
.....just my random memories and thoughts on it all, off the top of my head. 🙂 |
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Post by Deviancy on Jul 13, 2021 23:08:04 GMT
When my kid came along....I tried to buy at least 2 of all the Batman, Joker, Catwoman, Wolverine, Spiderman, Ghostrider....lol, [/font][/quote] The kid just showed up one day? It always freaks me out when my friends tell me how their kid or kids just came long one day, I'm like, "where do these kids keep coming from????". There's levels when it comes to collecting, the Harry Potter ones were usually die hard fans, and they'd get everything, replicas of the wands, the clothing, the figures, and the companies took full advantage, there wasn't one thing not made from that "universe". Suncoast made a fortune due to those collectors. But then we hit the recession, this caused many collectors to have to sell a lot of their stuff, or at least cut back significantly, which pretty much put Suncoast out of business, caused Spencer's to stop selling toys for the most part, and Hot Topic moved on to cartoon shoot, but TRU took the biggest hit. I'd say Tower Records did because they were selling toys and cd's, both of which took a hit in the US, but not in Japan, so while Tower is gone in the US, they're dominant in Japan, tons of shops and one of the most successful chains in Japan because they prefer cd's over digital and they're even bigger toy collectors than Americans. I think its a form escapism as well of course... and we all need a little of that. Beats drugs... well illegal drugs or abuse of legal drugs. |
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Post by wolf on Jul 15, 2021 16:29:08 GMT
....I'll catch up later, Dev. Got a lot to do today.🙂
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Post by wolf on Oct 14, 2021 22:11:40 GMT
When my kid came along....I tried to buy at least 2 of all the Batman, Joker, Catwoman, Wolverine, Spiderman, Ghostrider....lol, [/font][/quote] The kid just showed up one day? It always freaks me out when my friends tell me how their kid or kids just came long one day, I'm like, "where do these kids keep coming from? ". There's levels when it comes to collecting, the Harry Potter ones were usually die hard fans, and they'd get everything, replicas of the wands, the clothing, the figures, and the companies took full advantage, there wasn't one thing not made from that "universe". Suncoast made a fortune due to those collectors. But then we hit the recession, this caused many collectors to have to sell a lot of their stuff, or at least cut back significantly, which pretty much put Suncoast out of business, caused Spencer's to stop selling toys for the most part, and Hot Topic moved on to cartoon shoot, but TRU took the biggest hit. I'd say Tower Records did because they were selling toys and cd's, both of which took a hit in the US, but not in Japan, so while Tower is gone in the US, they're dominant in Japan, tons of shops and one of the most successful chains in Japan because they prefer cd's over digital and they're even bigger toy collectors than Americans. I think its a form escapism as well of course... and we all need a little of that. Beats drugs... well illegal drugs or abuse of legal drugs. [/quote] ....I'll catch up later, Dev. Got a lot to do today.🙂
Kid's just showing up.😊.... It IS kinda like that...you know they're coming! But when they finally pop out and you see them for the first time?...it's like 'where the hell did you come from!?'
And, 'God I love you', and from that day forward...you simply can't imagine your life without them (if they're one of the good kids and NOT evil lil bad seeds, like some of my cousin's kids!🤣)😆😉
My kid...when HE showed up....it's been a wild fun rollercoaster e'er since! 😄😉
He's smart, a lot smarter than ME! lol, I had him tested for various things, mild A.D.D was one and found out he's got a 'higher than average I.Q.' funny enough, he really kinda 'outgrew' the A.D.D thing....anyway what I'm tryin' to get at is, he's got an uncle who always bought him 'toys' ...action figures etc...that were really meant for kids much older than him (starting when he was at age 3), but he got so much out of them and really loved them. All those collectibles got some of the very best use they could, in my opinion. They were worn out, beaten up all to hell and back and just plain old BUTT UGLY when he finally wore them out! 🤣 It was so worth every penny anyone ever spent, for all the happiness and fun that came from it. I'm still glad the uncle did that too...it was really kind of a fortunate accident. My kid had, and still has, such an awesome imagination, and used to play out all kinds of stories and scenarios with them! That was when he wasn't running around the neighborhood being Spiderman, Batman, Wolverine, Superman or Ghostrider. You have NO IDEA how many times I have had to be 'Storm', or 'Calvin' (from "I Robot") before he went into PK4. 😄...and I loved every minute of it too. 😊❤ When he turned 16, for his birthday, I turned over my entire comic book collection to him. Now he's got a cub of his own coming soon, at age 20. And he's so damn happy and looking forward to that too!
Lol! NOW he's remembering! When he's buying two of everything, one to play with and one to keep safe, pristine and mint to retain it's value for the future...he KNOWS it's not going to be easy! 😆😉
Lol, okay. Nostalgic rant over. Don't mean to derail the thread and go so far off topic. It's a slow day here for a change. Kicking back and listening to tunes and roaming around the playground. 😊 
And hey! If you haven't seen it yet check out this movie thread sometime,
it's pretty cool. I thought you might like it, bud. 😊 Here is the link :
weekendplayground.freeforums.net/thread/871/2021-october-horror-movie-marathon?page=4
And please keep on showing us the the collectibles! Really like it all very much! 😊 |
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Post by kingfamilyfan on Oct 21, 2021 0:09:00 GMT
So many collectables out there.
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Post by Deviancy on Nov 16, 2021 2:27:38 GMT
So many collectables out there. Every generation has had something to collect. The boomers are all about muscle cars for example, they show up dressed like they came from Hawaii, and drooled over 67 Camaros. But x, y and x, data shows they're just not as into cars or guns or war memorabilia, they want toys based on games and films, so its a HUGE market right now. I don't see it cooling down anytime soon, it seems to actually be growing, I mean gen x is going gaga over the Obi Wan thing, so that's going to be more mass merch, and then there's the new Matrix films, more merch, and well.. its a bright future for investment and collecting if people have good taste.  Yes, I'd like to see figures of characters from Green Mile or even Doctor Sleep, but as good as those books and films were, they just wouldn't sell well as figures, I'm smart enough to realize that. Then again, they're finally doing more stuff based on the Shining, its all based on Nicholson, very few even remember, or liked the ABC mini series, but that's fine, Nicholson rules. |
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